HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Modderpoort, also known as ''Lekhalong la Bo Tau'' or ‘The Pass of the Lions’, is the site in the eastern Free State,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, where the
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
Missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
Brotherhood, the
Brotherhood of St Augustine of Hippo The Brotherhood of St Augustine of Hippo was an Anglican brotherhood founded in the Orange Free State, South Africa in 1867, and was based at Modderpoort from 1869, in the Diocese of Bloemfontein.Karel Schoeman, 1986. ''The Free State Mission: The ...
, was established by Bishop
Edward Twells Edward Twells (1823 – 4 May 1898) was the first Bishop of Bloemfontein in South Africa from 1863 to 1869. He was the younger brother of Henry Twells. He died at the age of 70 at his house, Pembrokegate, at Clifton, Bristol. Twells was consec ...
in the late 1860s. It is also associated with the
BaSotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...
prophet
‘Mantsopa 'Mantsopa Anna Makhetha (1793–1908), often referred to as 'Mantsopa, was a Sotho people, Basotho prophetess, Rainmaking (ritual), rainmaker, and storyteller. She advised King Moshoeshoe I and predicted the outcomes of several battles, including ...
, while the ‘sacred landscape’ in the vicinity includes San
rock painting In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...
sites.. Prepared for the Free State Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in connection with site worthy of consideration for World Heritage Sites status.


St Augustine’s

Bishop Twells of
Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...
purchased the farms Modderpoort and Modderpoort Spruit in 1865 as a base for missionary work in the area. The property was situated within the so-called ‘Conquered Territory’ lost by the BaSotho through conquest in the years 1843-1869. It was in fact not before 1869 that Canon Henry Beckett, the Superior of the Society of St Augustine, accompanied by four brothers, set up the mission, initially in a cave converted as church and dwelling. In 1871 the Priory was built while the sandstone Chapel, badly damaged in a mountain fire, was enlarged and rededicated in 1903. Meanwhile, Modderpoort had been taken over, in 1902, by the Anglican
Society of the Sacred Mission The Society of the Sacred Mission (SSM), with the associated Company of the Sacred Mission, is an Anglican religious order founded in 1893 by Father Herbert Kelly, envisaged such that "members of the Society share a common life of prayer and fell ...
(SSM). Alongside the Priory is the cemetery, containing inter alia the graves of the Anglican Brothers who served at Modderpoort. Their graves are capped with beautifully carved sandstone which was quarried from the surrounding hills (the sandstone for the
Union Buildings The Union Buildings ( af, Uniegebou) form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the northern end of ...
in
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
came from the same source). The sparrow that features in some of the carvings has reference to St Matthew 10:29-30. By 1928, the SSM had established a School and a Training College for black teachers. Both these institutions were closed down in 1955, however, following the introduction of
Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
and the implementation of the
Bantu Education Act The Bantu Education Act 1953 (Act No. 47 of 1953; later renamed the Black Education Act, 1953) was a South African segregation law that legislated for several aspects of the apartheid system. Its major provision enforced racially-separated educati ...
of 1953. Alumni from Modderpoort include
Winkie Direko Isabella Winkie Direko (27 November 192917 February 2012) was a South African politician born in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa. She was a member of the African National Congress and served as Premier of the Free S ...
, a
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
of the
Free State Province The Free State, known as Orange Free State until the 28th of June 1995 when its name was changed, is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer ...
. St Augustine’s operated subsequently as a Conference and Synod Centre and today includes Bed & Breakfast facilities.


Mantsopa

In the cemetery alongside the Priory lie the remains, besides those of missionary brothers and other former residents, of the legendary BaSotho prophet ‘Mantsopa, who died here on 11 November 1906. Makhetha Mantsopa was born in the region in about 1795. In 1851 she predicted that the BaSotho would triumph over colonial troops led by Major Warden. Renowned amongst her people for her seeing into the future and communicating with the ancestors, she was recognized instantly as a prophetess. Legend has it that over the years her influence became a threat to the power of the Basotho King Moshoeshoe. So it is said, Matsopa fled, finding refuge in the valley of Modderpoort. Here she was Christianised, baptized on 13 March 1870, and took the name Anna. (Moshoeshoe was to have been baptized on the same day, but died two days previously). ‘Mantsopa, it is suggested, practised a combination of Christian and traditional African rites which probably anticipated those of the modern Zionist Christian Church. Her memory is revered to this day, with Modderpoort becoming a site of
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
in recent years, when offerings are sometimes placed at her grave or in the nearby Cave Church. Particularly, a sacred spring of fresh water at Modderpoort is associated with the Matsopa cult. Pilgrims collect “Matsopa Water” (now bottled) from the sacred spring, well regarded for its healing qualities. Coplan indicates that these rites are but a part of a larger phenomenon of re-occupation, by re-use, of heritage and ritual sites in the Free State-Lesotho frontier. He notes that “Pilgrims to the sacred caves practise every form of African religion from pre-Christian Basotho ritual and medicine to independent Apostolic to established mission church Christianity.”


Cave Church

The
Cave Church A cave monastery is a monastery built in caves, with possible outside facilities. The 3rd-century monk St. Antony the Great, known as the founder of monasticism, lived in a cave. *Albania ** Qafthanë Cave Church, cave church near Urakë ** ...
, also known as the Rose Chapel, having been inhabited in Later Stone Age times, provided the first Anglican missionaries with shelter and their first place of worship. A century later, in 1970, members of the Zionist Christian Church (ZCC) began using it as an important pilgrimage site where the ancestors are felt to be strongly present. Offerings are typically placed here – snuff, that the ancestors may ‘breathe’ better; gambling tokens; scratch-and-win cards; crockery; food; money; written appeals and so forth. Candles are burnt during ceremonies which can involve several hundred people.


San rock art

Additionally, rock painting sites form part of this ‘sacred landscape’ where the rock art relates to the beliefs and shamanistic ritual performances of San
hunter-gatherers A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
of the pre-colonial era. The site above the mission was declared a National Monument in 1936. It has been abused by visitors who have vandalized the paintings or splashed water to bring out the colours (depositing a film of salts, causing them to fade). The main panel at the site contains remarkable depictions of birds and an unusual winged figure with zigzag legs, believed to represent a shaman or priest who had assumed a bird-like form to undertake the journey to the spirit world. Flight is a widespread and recurring metaphor for altered states of consciousness in South African rock art and folklore.


Tentative World Heritage listing

Modderpoort Sacred Sites has been placed on South Africa's Tentative List for UNESCO
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
inscription on June 30, 1998 in the Cultural category, and removed from the list in 2011Former Tentative Sites of South Africa
at World Heritage Site


See also

*
Sacred caves of the Basotho For thousands of years, a pilgrimage has been made by the Basotho people to a network of sacred caves to communicate with the spiritual world. The caves also contain dinosaur footprints and ancient rock paintings. The caves are located between the e ...


References

{{Reflist Landforms of the Free State (province) Anglican orders and communities Anglican monasteries Christian missions in South Africa